1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an ink transfer printer, by which ink is transferred to a recording sheet so that an image is formed on the recording sheet, and a thermal head, which is provided in the ink transfer printer.
2. Description of the Related Art
As a printer which transfers ink onto a recording sheet, such as a plain paper, the following printers are known: an ink jet printer that jets ink as liquid particles onto the recording sheet from nozzles, a thermal transfer printer that heats an ink ribbon, becoming partially liquefied due to the heat, which uses a thermal head to thereby transfer the ink onto the recording sheet, and a wire dot printer that uses a steel wire for striking an ink ribbon against the recording sheet.
However, these known printers have the following associated problems: ink in the nozzle of the ink jet printer may clog, a running cost of the thermal transfer printer may increase due to the consumption of ink ribbons, and the processing speed of the wire dot printer is poor. Thus, a printer wherein ink clogging is prevented, the running cost is low, and the processing speed is fast, is desirable.